Splash in the Rain Puddles

My baby turned 5.  He absolutely cannot handle it when I call him my baby.  As he moves through milestones and continues to grow, it's bittersweet as I know he's the last.  My baby he will always be.   a look back at 5 years that at moments, felt like the longest ever....and at the same time have flown by faster than I can handle.... Luke, you bring so much laughter, joy, and energy to our days.  You are a handful, a charmer, with a tender heart and a love for life that I just cannot get enough of.   Happy birthday my littlest love!! 

11 years.  11 years ago (yesterday) I became a mom for the very first time and began the most humbling and exciting journey called motherhood.   You, my first born son, were a force to be reckoned with in your early years.   You pushed and challenged and introduced me to the term "strong-willed child."  :)    But with lots of prayer and perseverance we watched you come around  and start to find your way. ...deciding to live your life for Jesus and  striving to be the young man he desires you to be.   You make your momma's heart so proud as I watch the way you work at everything with all your heart...as you learn and desire to know as many new things as you possibly can....as you quietly lead friends and teammates without even realize you're doing so....as I see your tender heart and the way you care about others...and as I watch you choose to do the...

Kids are so perceptive.  In these young years they are like sponges.  Learning meanings of new words and concepts just through listening to grown ups speak.  Yikes.  Filing away how to respond to situations just by watching how their parents react to things on a daily basis.  double yikes.  But what has really gotten me lately is how my boys watch my face.  Not only my words.  Not only my reactions.  But the look I have on my face....they read it like a book.  "Mom, you have your worried face on...what's wrong?"  "Mom, are you upset? you have that look on your face."  "Mom, did we do something wrong?"  whoa.  they notice.  They will even comment about our puppy....."oh Buckeye has his sad face on..."  Their comments about facial expressions have been going on for awhile now and then yesterday morning I read this in my morning devotions... When I pass the reflective surface of a microwave or window, I’m of...